Travellers often carry an assortment of personal articles with them. These articles commonly include airline boarding passes, passports, glasses, pens and pencils, calendars, wallets, reading materials, medication, and the like. It is often inconvenient to carry so many items in clothes pockets, so the items are placed in carry-on luggage and briefcases. However, in the airport and on the airplane, it can be difficult to safely access carry-on luggage to remove these items. Producing a boarding pass is especially difficult for travellers with their hands full of carry-on luggage hurrying to board the airplane.
A small pouch mounted on the shoulder strap of the luggage is one solution to this problem. U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,308 to Gautier discloses a packet fastened to the strap of a lady's handbag and U.S. Pat. No. 2,745,456 to Rubin discloses a coin purse attached to the carrying strap of a purse. Neither of these addresses the problems faced by travellers, as previously described. A third invention, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,761, consists of a bag with a shoulder strap wherein the shoulder strap is comprised partially of a conventional adjustable strap and partially of a long soft tubular enclosure. The strap and the enclosure clip together and can be worn over the shoulder to support the bag. As disclosed, the strap extends from the front of the bag diagonally upward across the wearer's chest while the tubular enclosure extends from the rear of the bag diagonally upward across the person's back. No provision is made for access to the tubular enclosure without removing the strap from the shoulder. In this invention, the weight of the bag is partially supported by the tubular enclosure, which can cause the enclosure to deform.